LINK: Rick Wakeman biography review...

http://somethingelsereviews.com/2012/05/16/leave-it-to-me-rick-wakemans-genius-first-take-contribution-to-david-bowies-space-oddity/

Dan Wooding, author of 45 books, was the first journalist to ever write a story about the young Rick Wakeman. That gives him a unique perspective on the legendary keyboardist’s work with prog-rock pioneers Yes, but also his interesting solo work and sideman projects over the years.

Wooding’s new 2012 authorized biography on Wakeman, called Caped Crusader takes us inside the early Yes years, as Wakeman assumes the keyboard chair for founding member Tony Kaye. But there’s much more to Wooding’s tale.

Wakeman left Yes in the middle part of the decade, producing a trio intriguing individual albums called The Six Wives of Henry VIII, Journey to the Centre of the Earth, and The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, all between 1973-75, before returning for what would be a series of reunions with Yes. (Wakeman was also a member of the band from 1976-80, part of the splinter group Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe beginning in 1989 and then in Yes again until 1992, followed by two more stops in 1995-97 and 2002-04.)

Read on...